Estimating herd size with camera......

[dogdoc]

Guys---I thought you might find this interesting. I copied this from the QDMA forum. It was a question I asked to Jason Snavely. He owns his own wildlife consulting company and a frequent writer for the QDM magazine.

"When estimating deer densities at the local level, it is necessary to define the "population". A population refers to all of the individuals of one species (i.e. deer) within a specified area (i.e. 160 acres) at a given time (14 day survey).

Let's face it, no matter how much acreage you own, deer are constantly moving on and off of your property. Once you acknowledge this it is important to keep it in mind while conducting your surveys, analyzing your data, and ultimately making management decisions (i.e. harvest quotas)

In this case your "population" is defined as the deer that are utilizing at least part of your property during your survey period. I urge my clients to ask their neighbors if they can include their properties in their survey since the deer that are on your property are on theirs and vice versa. Many landowners jump at the opportunity to share in the project, even if they are not hunters. You can then compare the results within your property borders to those from your entire survey area.

Is an accurate camera survey feasible on your property? I say: absolutely!

When employing any deer survey method, it is important to keep in mind that your results from any one survey period are not as important as the trends that you isolate over time (several years worth of data). These trends become evident with simple bar graphs of your herd demographics (density, sex ratio, age structure, and fawn crop).

Be sure to conduct your surveys in the same location using the same techniques from year to year and your relative data over time will give you an idea of what direction your deer herd and management program are headed.

The number of cameras you will need depends on how many different habitat types (habitat diversity) you have on your 160 acres. Assuming you have less than 3 or 4 major habitat types, it is safe to go with two to three cameras. While conducting our surveys we maintain at least one camera for every 100 acres. On smaller properties (less than 300 acres) we shoot for one camera for every 50-60 acres.

Make sure that you prebait your camera stations prior to initiating your survey. You can select sites where deer tend to hang out such as logging roads, food plots, trails, etc. We use corn as an attractant during our surveys as it is relatively cost effective and it is attractive to whitetails. Don't turn your cameras on until the DEER (not raccoons, squirrels, bears, etc.) are cleaning up 25-30 lbs of corn in a day or two. This ensures that you will get the most bang for your buck while your cameras are on.

Set your camera's delay setting to 10 minutes and keep your cameras running for 14 days. Since you are a QDMA member you probably have the last 5 issues of Quality Whitetails. Refer to them for the step by step procedure for estimating herd density, sex ratio, fawn crop, and buck age structure. We also discuss how to summarize and analyze your data. If you have additional questions feel free to fire back at me or drop me an email.

One thing is for certain: your hands on approach to managing your piece of heaven is right on! Good luck and let me know how you make out!"

__________________

Jason R. Snavely

Drop-Tine Wildlife Consulting

[email protected]

[Bond]

Re: Estimating herd size with camera......

Interesting.... Can you summarize the step by step guide for us? I wish I was a member.

I still think this approach is kinda flawed, I think a trail leading to the bait or feeding area would be better, just so you don't get the same deer eating from the pile in every picture. Also, I know a lot of times only the younger does eat from the bait, even at night the mature bucks tend to avoid it. For 14 days, how do you know which deer already visited? Or do you just go by the average number each day?

I don't know, I think cameras are better for age and sex ratios and not numbers. I think shining is a more effective method. But it does sound like it's worth a try in addition to shining.

[wtnhunt]

Re: Estimating herd size with camera......

That is pretty interesting Todd. So how do you turn your pics into estimations? Ho do you come up with an equation?

[preacherman]

Re: Estimating herd size with camera......

Thanks Todd..........this will indeed be helpful this year on the property!